Justice - What Justice ?
One of the things that really burns me is when government drops the ball for its taxpayers. It happens all the time and most people shake their head and mutter something about bureaucrats.
Just lately one government, the State of California, dropped the ball big time.
On January 8, 1981, twenty-one-year-old Michael Morales murdered and raped seventeen year-old Terri Lynn Winchell with his nineteen-year-old cousin, Rick Ortega. In early 1980, Ortega and seventeen-year-old Randy Blythe had a homosexual relationship. During this time, Blythe also had a dating relationship with Terri Winchell. While Terri didn't know about the homosexual relationship of Blythe and Ortega, Ortega knew about Blythe's and Terri's relationship. Ortega was extremely jealous of this relationship. Ortega and Morales conspired to murder Terri as "pay back" for Terri's involvement with Blythe.
Read more on this background.
A seventeen-year-old girl was murdered and justice is not served as seen in this timeline.
The case, which got so much initial media coverage because a beautiful girl had become the unwitting victim in a love triangle, has once again returned to the media spotlight. This time, the focus is also on Winchell's killer, Michael Morales. Now 46, Morales is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
In a bid for clemency and other last-minute appeals, he expressed remorse. His family members wrote letters asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare Morales' life. When former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr took Morales' side, the media coverage increased. Then there was a legal dispute over whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.
"There was so much press about Morales, with his crying and whining about how he might feel pain and I thought, 'What about Terri?'" said Trish Costa, one of Winchell's classmates.
What? You're worried that this animal might feel pain? Give me a break - did this animal concern himself with his victim's pain when he bludgeoned her head over and over? Did he worry at all about her pain when he took his belt and tried to strangle her or when he stabbed her in the chest four times to make sure she was dead?
I think not!
In California, executions are carried out by lethal injection, a complex procedure involving a combination of three different drugs: a sedative, a paralytic and finally a poisonous chemical.
When a lethal execution goes smoothly,if the act of depriving a human being of his life can ever be described as "smooth", it seems to all observers to be quick, peaceful and painless. But there are some questions about whether lethal injection actually is quick, peaceful and painless or whether it merely appears to be.
The first drug given to the convict during the execution, sodium thiopental, is a fast-acting, short-lived anesthetic, not an analgesic. That is, the drug briefly renders the convict unconscious but does nothing to prevent him from experiencing pain. The second drug, pancuronium bromide, is a paralytic but not an analgesic; it prevents the convict from moving but does nothing to prevent him from experiencing pain.
The final chemical, potassium chloride, causes excruciating pain when it is injected.
The upshot is that the potential exists, under circumstances everybody hopes are wildly improbable, for convicts executed by lethal injection to be fully conscious, utterly paralyzed, and in agonizing, unendurable pain during the last minutes of their lives.
Faced with this possibility, and the obvious 8th Amendment implications of it, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge Jeremy Fogel ordered the state of California to bring in two licensed anesthesiologists to ensure that Michael Morales was fully sedated and unconscious prior to the administration of the lethal dose of potassium chloride during his execution scheduled for Tuesday night.
But there was a problem. The American Medical Association code of ethics urges that doctors should not participate in executions in any way other than certifying death after the fact. Accordingly, the two unidentified anesthesiologists ordered by the state of California to oversee the Morales execution refused, saying that "any such intervention would clearly be medically unethical."
At that point, California penal officials had just one other option: In his ruling, Judge Fogel allowed that the state could carry out the execution if they abandoned the three-injection protocol and instead administered a lethal overdose of sodium thiopental. But there was a catch. The overdose, Fogel ordered, could only be administered by a licensed medical professional, meaning a doctor, nurse or other individual legally authorized by the state to inject medications.
No such individual willing to participate in an execution could be found by the time Morales' death warrant expired at 11:59 p.m. PST Tuesday night.
So the Morales execution is now on hold indefinitely, and may never be carried out.
The family of Terri Lynn Winchell have been let down big time by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold and his entire state government have dropped the ball.
Just lately one government, the State of California, dropped the ball big time.
The background first:
On January 8, 1981, twenty-one-year-old Michael Morales murdered and raped seventeen year-old Terri Lynn Winchell with his nineteen-year-old cousin, Rick Ortega. In early 1980, Ortega and seventeen-year-old Randy Blythe had a homosexual relationship. During this time, Blythe also had a dating relationship with Terri Winchell. While Terri didn't know about the homosexual relationship of Blythe and Ortega, Ortega knew about Blythe's and Terri's relationship. Ortega was extremely jealous of this relationship. Ortega and Morales conspired to murder Terri as "pay back" for Terri's involvement with Blythe.
Read more on this background.
Twenty Five Years Pass:
A seventeen-year-old girl was murdered and justice is not served as seen in this timeline.
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Jan. 8, 1981: Winchell disappears. Jan. 9, 1981: Police detain Ricky Ortega and begin questioning him. Jan. 10, 1981: Ortega leads officers to Winchell's body in a vineyard north of Lodi. Ortega and Michael Morales are arrested. Jan. 13, 1981: At least 1,000 people, including most of Tokay High School, attend Winchell's funeral. The flag at Tokay High hangs at half mast. March 8, 1983: Jury selection begins in the trial against Morales. March 22, 1983: Twelve jurors and three alternates are sworn in and Morales' trial begins. April 7, 1983: A Ventura County jury convicts Morales of rape, conspiracy and murder with special circumstances of torture and lying in wait. April 25, 1983: The same jury recommends the death penalty. June 14, 1983: Morales is sentenced to death, and he files an appeal to the California Supreme Court. Dec. 12, 1983: After a Ventura County jury convicts Rick Ortega of murder, he is sentenced to life in prison without parole. May 9, 1986: A state appeals court unanimously upholds Ortega's conviction. June 26, 1989: The judge signs a death warrant and sets a Sept. 22, 1989, execution date. Two days later, the California Supreme Court agrees to stay the execution while more appeals are filed. Nov. 27, 1989: The U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up the case, and the conviction becomes final. Dec. 18, 1990: Another execution date is scheduled for Feb. 15, 1991. On Feb. 8, 1991, a federal court stays the execution while Morales gets a new attorney and more appeals are filed. July 28, 1993: The state Supreme Court again denies his petition to reopen the case. July 28, 2003: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the conviction and strikes down Morales' arguments regarding jury instructions and witnesses. March 1, 2005: The 9th Circuit declines to review the case. Oct. 11, 2005: The U.S. Supreme Court denies Morales' appeal. Oct. 17, 2005: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declines to again look at the case. Jan. 18, 2006: The Ventura County judge who presided over the trials signs a death warrant, ordering that Morales die be executed Feb. 21. |
The case, which got so much initial media coverage because a beautiful girl had become the unwitting victim in a love triangle, has once again returned to the media spotlight. This time, the focus is also on Winchell's killer, Michael Morales. Now 46, Morales is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
In a bid for clemency and other last-minute appeals, he expressed remorse. His family members wrote letters asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare Morales' life. When former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr took Morales' side, the media coverage increased. Then there was a legal dispute over whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.
Justice Concerns Itself With The Offender, Not The Victim:
"There was so much press about Morales, with his crying and whining about how he might feel pain and I thought, 'What about Terri?'" said Trish Costa, one of Winchell's classmates.
Feel The Pain:
What? You're worried that this animal might feel pain? Give me a break - did this animal concern himself with his victim's pain when he bludgeoned her head over and over? Did he worry at all about her pain when he took his belt and tried to strangle her or when he stabbed her in the chest four times to make sure she was dead?
I think not!
Fast Forward To The State Execution Chamber:
In California, executions are carried out by lethal injection, a complex procedure involving a combination of three different drugs: a sedative, a paralytic and finally a poisonous chemical.
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An execution by lethal injection begins with the insertion of two 14-gauge intravenous catheters, the largest catheters commonly available, into the arms of the person to be executed. These catheters are hollow plastic tubes with an interior diameter of 1.6 millimeters. After the catheters are inserted, they are flushed with an injection of a drug called heparin, an anticoagulant that serves to prevent the formation of clots at the IV sites. One-liter bags of 0.9% salt-water solution - "normal saline," in medical parlance - are then connected to the catheters by lengths of sterile plastic tubing. The saline solution flows slowly into the convict's veins throughout the execution.
At this time, either the convict is wheeled into the execution chamber or, if he has already been installed in the chamber, the curtains separating it from the gallery are opened. The convict is given the opportunity to make a final statement to the assembled witnesses. After the convict has been given a chance to speak, and at the appointed time, the warden of the prison where the execution is being carried out gives the final order. Behind a one-way mirror, a trained technician, not a licensed medical professional, depresses the plunger on a syringe that is connected via a length of sterile tubing to one of the catheters in the convict's arms. A bolus of a sedative called sodium thiopental rushes into the convict's vein through the large catheter. Sodium thiopental, also known as Pentothal, is a barbiturate that is most commonly used to induce unconsciousness in patients about to undergo surgery. A typical patient is given about 250 milligrams of sodium thiopental. A convict undergoing lethal injection is given five grams, twenty times the normal dose. The convict is rendered unconscious in five to 10 seconds. A small amount of saline solution is then injected through the catheter to ensure that no residue of the sodium thiopental remains, a procedure known as flushing. The technician then depresses the plunger on a second syringe, injecting the convict with 100 milligrams of a drug called pancuronium bromide. Pancuronium bromide is a paralytic, a drug that induces paralysis. It is most commonly used during surgery to prevent patients from moving while anesthetized. Within 30 seconds, the convict is rendered fully unable to move. It is at this point that breathing stops, as the muscles of the chest and diaphragm have been paralyzed. The convict is still alive, but if left in this state would expire in approximately three minutes from hypoxia. Again, the catheter is flushed with saline. Finally, the technician depresses the plunger on the third and final syringe. A large dose of a chemical called potassium chloride rushes into the convict's vein. Potassium is an essential nutrient in the body, but an overdose of the chemical interferes with the heart's ability to contract. The convict enters into a state called acute hyperkalemia. Within minutes, the convict's heart enters a state called asystole in which there is no electrical activity in the organ whatsoever. It is at this time that a licensed physician, who has not been present for any of the proceedings so far, enters the execution chamber and, upon listening to the convict's heart, pronounces the convict dead. The whole process, from the insertion of the catheters to the pronouncement by the attending physician, can take as little as 10 minutes. |
But None Of This Happens:
When a lethal execution goes smoothly,if the act of depriving a human being of his life can ever be described as "smooth", it seems to all observers to be quick, peaceful and painless. But there are some questions about whether lethal injection actually is quick, peaceful and painless or whether it merely appears to be.
The first drug given to the convict during the execution, sodium thiopental, is a fast-acting, short-lived anesthetic, not an analgesic. That is, the drug briefly renders the convict unconscious but does nothing to prevent him from experiencing pain. The second drug, pancuronium bromide, is a paralytic but not an analgesic; it prevents the convict from moving but does nothing to prevent him from experiencing pain.
The final chemical, potassium chloride, causes excruciating pain when it is injected.
The upshot is that the potential exists, under circumstances everybody hopes are wildly improbable, for convicts executed by lethal injection to be fully conscious, utterly paralyzed, and in agonizing, unendurable pain during the last minutes of their lives.
Faced with this possibility, and the obvious 8th Amendment implications of it, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge Jeremy Fogel ordered the state of California to bring in two licensed anesthesiologists to ensure that Michael Morales was fully sedated and unconscious prior to the administration of the lethal dose of potassium chloride during his execution scheduled for Tuesday night.
But there was a problem. The American Medical Association code of ethics urges that doctors should not participate in executions in any way other than certifying death after the fact. Accordingly, the two unidentified anesthesiologists ordered by the state of California to oversee the Morales execution refused, saying that "any such intervention would clearly be medically unethical."
At that point, California penal officials had just one other option: In his ruling, Judge Fogel allowed that the state could carry out the execution if they abandoned the three-injection protocol and instead administered a lethal overdose of sodium thiopental. But there was a catch. The overdose, Fogel ordered, could only be administered by a licensed medical professional, meaning a doctor, nurse or other individual legally authorized by the state to inject medications.
No such individual willing to participate in an execution could be found by the time Morales' death warrant expired at 11:59 p.m. PST Tuesday night.
So the Morales execution is now on hold indefinitely, and may never be carried out.
The family of Terri Lynn Winchell have been let down big time by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold and his entire state government have dropped the ball.